Boiling Crab: How to Clean and Cook Crab

Boiling crab comes immediately after cleaning has been done, however, cleaning of crab can be carried out at home with just water salt and knife. Crabs are very delicious seafood hence there are many healthy delicious crab recipes which include okra soup, cocoyam porridge (ekpang nkukwo), water yam porridge, vegetable soup, draw soup, saladsamong others. We often enjoy eating crabs in the restaurants where it is well seasoned and cooked, however, you can learn how to clean and cook crab at home all by yourself. Crabs are fast and easy to dress and cook, you don’t really need lots of spices for this tasty treats, just few ingredients will be enough to cook crabs with.

Getting crabs in our everyday market can be very difficult; because they come in season especially during November and December months which makes it harder to come by. Another easiest way to get crabs or buy them is by visiting the beach or the seashore on your own. If you are buying crabs from the open market, you need to be very careful as they may be dead already, spoiled or worn out. In this case, you need to check out for the dead ones and avoid; however, it is advisable to buy crabs that are stored out of water, these ones are very active and very much alive, compared to those stored inside water.

Crabs are fantastic seafood; the meat is really tasty and rich in protein and other nutrients. You can use crab to prepare soup or simply season your crab and cook on a stovetop, then serve as it is. Crab meat is very sweet and crunchy, you may need to add some to your porridges or rice dishes. There are other methods of cooking crabs as some people prefer fried crab, others roasted crabs and still yet some people love grilled crab. You can boil crab or prepare crab by stir frying in a little oil or better still by simply baking them in the oven to enjoy.

When cooking live crab you really need to be very careful as they can easily scratch through your skin or bite your fingers. You can add warm water to the crab or some salt to keep the crabs calm while cleaning them so that they dont injure your skin while trying to remove the apron. This simple youtube video above shows you how to clean crabbefore cooking at home and a great way to season and cook crab; watch this how to clean crabvideo.

Ingredients for boiling crab

1. 2 cups of medium sized crabs
2. 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
3. 1 medium onion
4. 1 seasoning cube
5. A medium sized earthen pot or crab steamer pot

Picture of live crabs in a bowl

Steps for cleaning and boiling crab

1. Soak crabs in warm water or salt water and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
2. Once the crabs are dead, hold one with your hand, lift its apron or shell and break it off.
3. Do this for the rest of the crabs and rinse then under running water.
4. Place the crabs in a pot, add some seasonings like salt, pepper, onions, maggi and cook.
5. Cook the crabs for 5- 10minutes depending on the size, without adding much water.
6. Once they are cooked, they turn reddish in colour; I like to steam my crabs without water

Easy steps for cleaning and boiling crab with pictures

1. Soak crabs in warm water or salt water and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

2. Once the crabs are dead, hold one with your hand, lift its apron or shell and break it off.

Cleaned crabs for boiling

3. Do this for the rest of the crabs and rinse then under running water.

4. Place the crabs in a pot, add some seasonings like salt, pepper, onions, maggi and cook

Season the crabs with few seasonings before boiling

5. Cook the crabs for 5- 10 minutes depending on the size, without adding much water.

Process of boiling crab in a crab steamer pot using a local fire

6. Once they are cooked, they turn reddish in colour; I like to steam my crabs without adding water

Serving of cooked crabs

Boiled crabs is served

How to clean and boil king crab

If you are dealing with a bigger crab

1. Soak your crab in boiling water and leave it to cool completely.
2. Remove the apron by grabbing the point towards the front of the crab and pulling it off.
3. Stick your finger into the hole left in the apron and pull out the meat into a bowl.
4. With one hand, pull off the top shell by simply grabbing the shell where you see a small hole between the carapace. Also, take out anything that is not meat in the crab
5. Pull out the guts with your finger and the gills as well, leaving aside the white or pink flesh.
6. Make sure you take out all the meat from the shell into a crab steamer pot, season and cook the crab meat as you want and enjoy. The same process can be used when cooking or boiling crab legs